NOTEBOOK

EXAMINER NEWS SERVICES

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, April 23, 1998

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Sports Illustrated was planning to send a writer out to St. Petersburg this weekend to do a feature on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. ESPN has been raving about them on TV. National baseball columnists were sitting up and taking notice.

The expansion team that everybody wrote off in March became a hot story in April.

But will the bubble burst before spring turns into summer? On Wednesday night, the Devil Rays lost their second game in a row, to the Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington.

It marks the first time the Rays have lost two games in a series.

SI is considering canceling the story, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

By the time its next issue hits the stands, the Rays could be a sub-.500 ballclub. Still, the Rays came into the contest with the best 17-game record (10-7) by any expansion team in the history of all four major pro sports.

YANKEES, STAY HOME: That's what New Jersey residents say when asked if their leaders should play ball with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner on building a stadium on their side of the Hudson River.

Only 27 percent of New Jersey residents surveyed in a Quinnipiac College poll released Wednesday say they want the Bronx Bombers to move to the Garden State. Nearly half said they want the Yankees to stay in New York, and a quarter remain undecided, according to the poll.

There is one wrinkle: If they build a ballpark in the Meadowlands, nearly two-thirds said they would come. But six out of 10 residents say Steinbrenner - not the state or an independent authority - should shell out the cash for Jersey digs.

The error margin of the poll, conducted from April 15-20, is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

The poll was conducted after a steel-and-concrete joint crashed onto a seat in Yankee Stadium, forcing the Yankees out of their 75-year-old stadium for more than a week while inspectors tested its safety. The stadium will reopen Friday.

New Jersey's Republican Gov. Christie Whitman has said New Jersey would welcome the ballclub, and her Commerce Commissioner, Gualberto Medina, has talked about a stadium on the Jersey waterfront with the Manhattan skyline in the background. But Whitman has stressed she is not interested in spurring a bidding war. New Jersey voters rejected a baseball stadium referendum 11 years ago.

CORDERO BACK TO THE SHOW: The Chicago White Sox recalled Wil Cordero from the minors and announced he will bat sixth and play first base Thursday night.

Cordero, who pleaded guilty to beating and threatening his wife, batted .286 with two homers and 11 RBIs at Double-A Birmingham.

"He's getting called up, and everybody knows about his prior stuff," Robin Ventura said. "I think everybody will be here to help. I hope he comes here, does well and doesn't have any problems. I think everybody here needs to pull for him."

Cordero received a 90-day suspended sentence and was ordered to attend regular counseling sessions. He batted .281 with 18 homers and 72 RBIs with Boston last season, but the Red Sox released him after two other women made allegations against him.

He agreed to a one-year, $1 million deal with the White Sox last month. There is an option for 1999 that could be worth $2 million to $5 million, depending on his plate appearances this season.

Cordero, 26, has said he and his wife, Ana, are reconciling.

BELLE DECISION NEAR: Baseball's security director has almost completed his investigation into Chicago White Sox outfielder Albert Belle's gambling and will pass on the results to acting Commissioner Bud Selig in the next day or two.

Kevin Hallinan told Bloomberg News that his report is

"99.9 percent done." Hallinan has spent almost a year investigating Belle, who said during a court deposition in February 1997 that he lost about $40,000 gambling on sports other than basebal&lt;